I know what I'm bringing to my next potluck.

Active Time: 1.75 hours (you kind of have to stand there while it cooks)Total time: 2 hours (both on the stove top and in the oven)

Would I make it again? Yes

My cousin is an incredible cook. I'm always hoping she will invite me over for dinner. Or Brunch. Or drinks (because there will probably be snacks too). My husband and I hosted a News Year's Eve potluck and she brought over very-delicious boeuf bourguignon and mashed potatoes. We filled our bowls with the stew and then topped them with potatoes. The second and third time I went back, I think I did potatoes first, boeuf second. Details, details. While I was happily eating I had a thought: "This is like a deconstructed shepherd's pie!"

Shepherd's Pie is one of those dishes, much like pot pie, that I was wary of for years. I didn't like the idea of gravy suspending carrots and meat under a crust. But once I had actually made gravy, I realized first hand that it's made of ingredients I eat regularly and with pleasure. That New Year's combo got me thinking about how much I like shepherd's pie and how I'd like to try making one myself. The recipe gods must have heard me because the February issue of Bon Appetit arrived with a recipe for Bison and Red Wine Shepherd's Pie.

If you're in a hurry: This is delicious and you should make it.

If you're at work or avoiding doing the dishes, please read on.

Bison is a trendy meat. It's low in fat and relatively sustainable. Beacuse of its leanness, bison can be dry and kind of...meh. But not here. Thisrecipe calls for "3 1/2 pounds bison or beef short ribs or 2 1/2 pounds boneless chuck, cut into 2-inch cubes" I went for the bison chuck, which is affordable and the right kind oflean-fatty. I called my local Whole Foods to make sure they had bisonchuck, and they assured me that they did. I don't want to call anyonea liar but...they didn't. They had bison steaks and ground chuck (I needed to cut my chuck into cubes). Ihandled it really well. I had a long conversation with the butcher. I've mentioned this before but butchers really are the mostaccommodating of all market employees. We decided I'd get 1.5 poundsof the bison steaks (which was expensive) and a little over half apound of the ground chuck for extra meat flavor and unctuousness. Irealize that Shepherd's Pie is one of those "peasant" dishes, like manyfrittatas and stews, that is supposed to be full of inexpensive scraps, but mine was a top shelf pie.

I cut the steaks into chunks and tossed them with the flour andseasoning mix. I thought I had bought a slab of bacon--as the recipe required--but I'd actuallypurchased sliced bacon that looked like a slab of bacon. I was trickedby Whole Foods for a second time! I weighed the slices to make sure Ihad exactly 1/3 of a pound. I love using my food scale. Also, youwill note, the bacon looked a lot like candy stacked on that scale. (Maybe this observation is just all the "bacon as dessert" trends infiltrating mysubconscious.) I cooked the bacon in my 5.5 quart Le Crueset. Afterthe bacon had been browned, I removed it and cooked the ground chuck,then removed that and browned the steak pieces. Onions, carrots,celery, and garlic are cooked until softened, then I poured in thewine. I bought the least expensive Syrah Whole Foods had. It was greatin the pie, awful in the glass. But, you know, when buying $6 wines,one takes that risk. Just ask college seniors everywhere.

The broth, tomatoes, bay leaves, thyme, sage, reserved bacon, and bisonall went in next. I took the liberty of cutting the bacon into smallerpieces. The recipe says that the bison may take 1.5 hours to cook, butmine was done in about 45 minutes. I think this was due to the smalleramount of bison and the fact that I was working with a more tender cutof meat--the catch all "steak" cut. While the ingredients weresimmering, I cooked the pearl onions and boiled the potatoes. Multi-tasking at its finest. After the meat was tender I removed allthe large pieces and cut them into smaller squares. The recipe callsfor this step. I think this step might only be for the chef that isusing short ribs, but I decided to do it anyway because the original cuts werevery large. Giant shepherd's pie. After everything was normal humansized, I added the pearl onions, turnips, and parnsips to the potfollowed by the bison. A word about the turnips: Whole Foods did nothave any baby turnips. I know ... right? So I bought regular sizedturnips and cut them into small pieces. The pie was a little turnipforward, no joke. I could taste turnips very definitely. However, itwas still delicious, I like turnips.

I was hoping to bake the pie in the Le Creuset because it's sohandsome. However, I realized that it would decrease the potato crustsurface area, and that is a very key part of the pie. I poured thefilling into the suggested 13x9x2 dish and ran into a problem: therewas too much filling. I had to fill another baking dish with crust-lessleftovers.

The potato crust is a delicious buttery, creamy mashed potatoes that getspread (with some difficulty, if you're me) over the filling. After thepie is iced with mashed potatoes, it gets topped off by an egg wash andParmesan cheese. At this point my shephed's pie went in the fridgefor the night to be eaten the next day.

I took it out about 30 minutes before I was going to bake it, just totake the chill off a little bit. The pie (and the extra filling) bakedfor 55 minutes and then rested for 10. While it was resting, I sauteedsome kale with the leftover pearl onions and garlic. It was theperfect side for such a rich main, if I do say so myself. The shepherd's pie was a hit. It was the perfect February night dish: fullof hearty but slightly unexpected flavors. I know what I'm bringing tomy next potluck.